Euro Parliament committee votes for 20-week paid maternity leave

R. Cassar

Feb 24th 2010, 23:43

It appears that most people fail the see other reasons why such measure may be introduced..
birth rate is ever decreasing EU countries...ie less work force to pay the NI for the ever increasing retireees.
less work force = less taxes to pay our services and health care.
Malta has one of the loest women participation oin the work force...
ie actually it's not a measure intented for women but for economic and social requirements.

Jacqui Gatt

Feb 24th 2010, 23:16

@ Martin Saliba

Fair enough the government should help businesses, at least by paying a percentage of maternity leave, however, I cannot understand why most bloggers includind yourself are treating pregnancy like a crime.
No, I do not expect you to solve my problem because I don't see how being pregnant is a 'problem'.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 21:36

I abela....if a company has a 100% male employmenet record, then something is wrong...easy to suspect....then the problem would be very easily solved....we think we're unique, but these problems have been faced and solved by other European countries, albeit thirty years ago!!!!!!!

Kieron O'connor

Feb 24th 2010, 19:12

What about longer Paternity leave too!! Typical women, thinking only about themselves!

I Abela

Feb 24th 2010, 19:02

@ Jeremy J Camilleri - Yes many employers will not employ women of child bearing age. It has been like that in the past and it will surely be like that in the future. Nobody will be breaking the law because nobody will tell the applicants that they are not being considered because they are women. After a call for applications the employer receives several CV and then sets appointments for interviews and then will tell candidates that they will be informed at a later date. All the employer has to do is send a letter to the women saying "Dear Ms XXXX, We regret to inform you that the vacancy for bla bla bla has been filled. We will however keep your CV on file for future reference. Best Regards Mr. Law Abiding Employer." Wake up everyone and see what's happening here. The government wants to give incentives to women and the expense of private employers. IT WILL NEVER WORK OUT no matter what everyone here and in the EU says.

D Stellini

Feb 24th 2010, 18:59

Absolute madness... not only from a cost point of view , but more importantly the disruption this causes. Imagine chief officers in a company, eg , financial controller, HR , IT etc etc, missing for 5 months at a stretch . Surely this will backfire on women , as employers faced with two equal candidates, male and female , may well favour the male candidate for a job.

Philip B Cortis

Feb 24th 2010, 17:47

@Paul Barrett

Paul, if the 20 weeks are paid by the government, then it's our tax money. The more tax many we save the better. Agreed 100%.

The problem in this case with the above reasoning in the case of maternity leave is 2 fold

1) As humans on emotional level we are obliged to support fellow humans to have children
2) In my opinion, I think that it is much cheaper for the central administration to pay for a 20 weeks maternity leave which shall help to boost the birth rate then we end up with issues in 20 - 30 years time cause due to aging population

martin saliba

Feb 24th 2010, 16:45

@Jacqui Gatt . If i were to have an employee who got pregnant and had to give her 20 weeks materniy leave , not to mention that they wanted 24 weeks , it would surley break me. Is this right ? SME's and multi million euro entities are being asked to provide the same social service. If it is a social service it should by paid out by the Goverment in part from my taxes and you will have my full suppot. Put yourself in my position and i am sure you would understand my point without having to agree with it. Why should i go bust to help you solve your problems ? You can see that mr. JJ camilleri is not prepared to pay out from his pocket otherwise he would have said so.

Jacqui Gatt

Feb 24th 2010, 16:10

@ Martina Saliba

It seems that based on your opinion, women should stop having children altogether if they want to earn a decent living and build a career. According to you, it's fine to fire me (as a pregnant woman) from work after working full time for the past 9 years and working hard to reach the position I hold now.

And regarding properties and loans - yes, women are entitled to buy a place to live for themselves too - and a one bedroomed appartment today can easily cost over €100,000 ....I'd like to know how much these women are borrowing to buy the 'palaces' you mentioned.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 16:03

I Abela....this is not about being smart, but about facing reality. We are full members of the EU and must accept any decisions taken, bothe when affected in a positive manner, and when affected the other way around.

The issue that is bothering me here is that various employers are stating that they WILL NOT employ women if this decision goes through.

I suppose you know that such a statement implies breaking the law. Stating that no one wins a courtcase for sexual discrimination also goes to show your faith in the state legislation, and in no way makes it justifiable. Are you suggesting that it is ok for anyone to take the law in their own hands?

Is this the current situation we have here, where employers are saying they will have to break the law to get by?

And some people say that Malta is not facing a crisis!!!!!!!!!!

martin saliba

Feb 24th 2010, 15:53

@Jeremy J Camilleri . If you agree to pay from your pocket the figures mentioned by I Abela please let prospective employers know where to conact you so that they would have no difficulty in employing a woman of child bearing age. On the other hand employing a 50 + year old woman should present no problems. hek sew mela , nahdem u nistinka biex il familja tighi tkun ahjar u ikolli bzonn ftit ghajnuna u nipjega mara, tohrogli tqila wara xi sena u is salabni. Hekk sew ????

I Abela

Feb 24th 2010, 15:30

Jeremy J Camilleri - Usually your comments are much smarter. You have to look at both sides of the coin. Why should an employer pay at least €7,500 for every female employee who gets pregnant (nb €7,500 includes 20 weeks pay for mother and 20 weeks pay for replacement) ? Any smart answer ? Welfare benefits should be forked out by the government not the employer. I agree with many hereunder that employing women is becoming unsustainable. Many employers will think twice before employing young women and nobody will ever win a courtcase for sexual discrimination. So stop dreaming.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 14:51

Martin Saliba..are you publicly declaring that you would break the law with regards to employing women?

You are not voicing opinion, but extolling criminality!!!!

g.c.Forte

Feb 24th 2010, 14:26

@ cfarrugia The point is that we are Maltese, and our mentality is totally different than those in the E.U. When an employer is going to employ a female, she has to go through hell to get that job. Unless the law regarding employment do not stipulate of how many male and female an employer has to employ, it will remains his choice whom he employ. This is the same thing of how to employ full time, part time, helper, and another dozen names.

martin saliba

Feb 24th 2010, 14:18

I would never emlpoy a woman of chid bearing age. If she wants a family she should pay to raise it. Today , a lot of women work because they cannot keep up with the ever rising cost of living , but there are many more who have no option and HAVE to work to pay off their debts because they want to live in a "palace " not just a home. Personaly , i slept on a wooden board bed for the first 5 years of my marrage and we bought our bedroom when we could afford it and my appartment was paid for in full. You can all try to shot me down but i have a right to my opinion ad noone can force me to change it.

Joseph Scerri

Feb 24th 2010, 12:39

"In a country which boasts among the highest number of paid vacation leave days in the world, ........."

I prefer to have the paid vacation leave days like in other EU countries than those we have here. In Malta, we do not get the long service leave of 3 months paid leave after five years working or the 6 months paid leave after 10 years working.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 12:38

Reading most of the comments by the employers, it sounds like the Maltese Catholic inspired cry of taking care of our family life does fall on deaf ears.....

Most of you would make Scrooge look extravagant!!!!

Gerard Cassar

Feb 24th 2010, 12:33

Malta employers Association. Malta is a member of the E.U. thanks to your support so don't grumble but beat your chest. If you are not happy with the E.U rules shut up or join the front against Europe just for fun.What was done cannot be undone. Don't behave like spoiled chidren.You are the backbone of the community, take care of it.

M. Calleja

Feb 24th 2010, 12:11

@ N.Aquilina.
Concerning the availability of child care centres, now that the Ministry of Education in also in charge of social policy, Minister Dolores Cristina (also a mother) should consider opening a child care centre in Valletta or Floriana for government workers operating in departments located in the Valletta-Floriana area. Apart from the obvious logistical convenience, mothers would be able to visit their children during break-time, possibily also to breast-feed their chikld, and mothers would not be so much in a hurry to leave their office to collect their child from nanna or from a private child care centre. Even if we had to pay 1 Euro per child a day (kwazi hmerija), with the number of families using such a [proposed] centre this would be more than cost-effective.

Please Minister Cristina, thin about this proposal. All you need is a location with amenities for child-care and recreational activities, and professional chil-minders. I am sure this will be another positive way of increasing the possibility of professional child-carers to find jobs.

Jacqui Gatt

Feb 24th 2010, 12:05

@ Paul Barrett

In most cases it's just not possible for a man to work while the woman 'slaves away at home' once they have a child.

Personally, I will become a mother for the first time this year and I could not imagine quitting my well paid career and live on my partners minimum wage. Having enough maternity leave means that I can have my well deserved time with my new born baby before returning back to work while my boyfriend quits his job and 'slaves away at home' as you like to call it.

I'm sure that no mother prefers to leave her child at home and go to work everyday but unfortunately some parents do not have an alternative choice.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 11:59

Eric Gahn. You could also ask those who were fully behind Eu MEmbership and posing for pictures as well...They re the ones writing here AGAINST this measure....ACtually..that question would have been more to the point.

Jacqui Gatt

Feb 24th 2010, 11:54

@ G.Pisani

Bad news? These are human rights!

george grech

Feb 24th 2010, 11:50

@ c farrugia...

we owners of small business .... its our daily bread so we make rules ! part time only....take it or leave it.....

John Falzon

Feb 24th 2010, 11:42

I appreciate the problems faced by women however let us please not forget that there are various other forms of discrimination when it comes to employment, such as those relating to age. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen an advert in the local papers for someone "young and dynamic". As if the two are mutually exclusive !!

The sad part is that even Government is not compliant in this regard !

If I recall well, the latest local call for applications for policemen stiplulated an age of 18-30.

Here is the UK equivalent quoted verbatim from http://www.met.police.uk/careers/eligibility_requirements.html.

Age criteria
In keeping with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, we encourage applications from people between the following ages:

Police community support officers
18–62½ years old

Special constables
18–57 years old

New constables and experienced officers
18–57 years old

Police staff
16–63½ years old (18–63½ for roles involving shift work)

No further comment except to ask "Did we really join the EU ???"

Joseph Schembri

Feb 24th 2010, 11:36

Europe, Malta being no exception, has an acute problem of not enough babies being born. Everything must be done to encourage people to have babies. This is one measure that will help. Babies born or adopted by European people be they married, unmarried, straight, gay or lesbian will be brought up in European values. We need this desperately if Europe is not to become Islamic in a few decades time.

The state should look at the long term advantages of offering parental leave to men or women and chip in by helping those small industries who cannot afford to lose a worker for such a long time.

All of us have to gain if their is a shift in the present demographic trend in Europe. This shift has only one solution - make more babies and preferably inside families (be they traditional or not) that are active contributors to the economy.

G.Pisani

Feb 24th 2010, 11:31

This is actually bad news for women,

Employers will be seeking more men to fulfill their posts rather than women now. And at this time during the very bad recession, I can understand the employer's anger.

Bad move in my opinion.

Martin Farrugia

Feb 24th 2010, 11:30

"Furthermore, fully paid additional maternity leave should be granted in specific situations such as premature childbirth, children with disabilities, mothers with disabilities, TEENAGE MOTHERS, multiple birth, and births occurring within 18 months of previous births."

Well done EU! Teenage pregnancies should be encouraged!!

Eric Gahn

Feb 24th 2010, 11:25

I have worked in companies were senior positions were never given to women as 'they will get pregnant and leave'. As much as I would honestly love to cheer for this proposition I fear that it will create a case to strengthen my former experence note. If the Maternity Leave term is to be extended it needs to be supported by legislation to avoid discrimination of women. Without it would be a half baked cake.

I wish for someone from GWU write something here. They are the ones who spelled doom and gloom for the workers and as can be clearly seen this is a step in a very good direction for workers.

cfarrugia

Feb 24th 2010, 11:21

what a bunch of sad people you all are. is thus nit why we joined the EU - to have better social benefits and standard of living - this measure is great for those wanting to become parents and raising children. I bet all of you moaners down here do not have your pertners pregnant pr raising a young child - you wouldn't be talking like that if u were.

This is great news. Thak you EU xxx

for all you small business owners that are moaning - if this is unsustainable for you, then close shope and get employed just like everybody else. and for those that are threatening to not employ women - please not that discrimination is against the law, and in a small island like ours it is not very difficult to find out who's who.

for all those men and women becoming parents - good luck, and may god bless you all.

g.c.Forte

Feb 24th 2010, 11:17

@ Ivan Attard..........Naqbel ma dak li ghedt, pero nixtieq nikkoregik ftit. Taht il gvern ta Sant, il 50 cents kienet ghal kull ircevuta u mhux ghal kull medicina. Bhal ma ghedt int, li kien ghal dan il gvern bla kuxjenza, is servizzi socjali kollha bye, bye, imma il Kbir Mintoff kien rabathom bil Kostituzzjoni, ghax kien jaf sa fejn jistaw jaslu il bravi Nazzjonalisti. Ghad hemm hafna beneficcji li dahhalhom Mintoff li l-Ewropej lanqas biss joholmu bihom.

Andrew Agius

Feb 24th 2010, 11:09

Oh calm down everyone - very few people will get pregnant just so they can take a few weeks off work - it's not exactly a holiday! Try to keep a check on your greed.
All the decent countries in the world already exceed this anyway.
Perhaps Malta could look into its ridiculous medieval rule on paternity leave too? 1 day! 1 day! What's a father supposed to do with that?

Paul Barrett

Feb 24th 2010, 11:05

@ Philip B Cortis

Yes fine - all very well but it is us, the tax payer that pays these great benefits, it is not the Governments money, it is our money.

Personally I think the whole thing is crazy. If I were an employer (which I am not), and I had to pay full wages for 20 weeks plus all the other strings attached like sick leave etc, etc, I would not employ a female under the age of 50, whatever the rules may say about discrimination. It would be financial suicide.

The whole idea of a fair days pay for a fair days work has been stood on its head by all these rules and regulations.

OK - I am also old fashioned and I was brought up in the belief that it was the mans job to go out to work and the womans job to slave away at home (a lot harder than some imagine). Unfortunately financially it has proved to be very difficult to move ahead without extra income from both partners working but to expect employers to pay for work not done is crazy.

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 10:40

Nothing better than workers getting better conditions to bring the ticks out of the woodwork.

N.Aquilina

Feb 24th 2010, 10:39

Finally some good news for women in Malta. Apart from maternity leave the govt. should open child care centres in the localities which would be operated by the Local Councils obviously at a cost but cheaper than the private child care centres. Unfortunately in the private sector most of the companies do not have family friendly measures.

Louise Zammit

Feb 24th 2010, 10:19

How sick are you everyone comments. You make it that being pregnant is a disease. If females are employed as part timers then they lose all the benefits. They too have loans, bills to pay.

Philip B Cortis

Feb 24th 2010, 10:13

Most people talking below, although with opposite views are right. It would be beneficial in multiple ways for the society that we have long maternity leave. It healthy for the family and it will also encourage to increase the birth rate, which unless increased, we are going to face serious problems in the future. I can think of no one that argues against the above. However, as said, it’s beneficial to the society, hence like other benefits, this should be paid by the government. It’s like long sick leave – it’s the government who pays. The employer will benefit very little or noting from long maternity leave. If there is long maternity leave, it’s already an expense that the employer will need to get a replacement, train such replacement etc. The work flow will suffer. Long maternity leave is a MUST but it is also a MUST that the government will pay for it.

Ivan Attard

Feb 24th 2010, 10:02

Il-maternity leave f'pajjizna dahhlu l-Gvern Laburista ta' Duminku Mintoff u l-Ewropej kienu ghadhom lanqas jafu x'ifisser!

Is-servizzi socjali li ghamel Gvern Laburista kollha qed jitnaqqru minn dan il-Gvern ghajjien. Ma nehodhiex bi kbira li s-sahha tigi bi hlas! Wara kollox, ma tistax temminhom lil tal-PN! tal-PN dejjem jitkazaw ghax Alfred Sant fil-Gvern kien introduca hlas ta' 50c ghal kull medicina li tohrog mill-isptar. Dak iz-zmien, il-medicini kollha kienu in stock. Illum, il-PN nehha dak il-hlas minimu li kien ghamel Alfred Sant imma nofs il-medicini jinsabu out of stock. Jigifieri, il-PN nehhielek li thallas 50c u imbaghad jibaghtek tixtri l-medicini ta' xi 100 EWRO minghand il-privat. U jiftahar li ghandu kuxjenza socjali!!

Jeremy J Camilleri

Feb 24th 2010, 09:59

It is illegal not to employ a person on basis of gender, so MArio De bono is seriously considering breaking the law.

Joseph Grech

Feb 24th 2010, 09:57

Good news for all those getting pregnant;
Bad new for the employers;
Bad news for the E.U. - can it really afford this? Hardly!
E.U. bureaucrats are downright irresponsible.

Rob grech

Feb 24th 2010, 09:54

this leads to more abuse...
its more senseable that females are employed as part timers w/o any conditions !....even unregistered with ETC ... then when they get pregnant Kulhadd jibqa bli Ha !

C.R. Taliana

Feb 24th 2010, 09:50

@Mario De Bono - I can speak for Italy. If you're a mother or you're pregnant it's already a drawback if you're seeking employment. I myself had a contract non-renewed for the simple fact that I was pregnant. Employers not considering females fit for the job (illegal according to EU legislation) just because they might have children is the order of the day here. I don't know about other EU countries maybe some other readers living in other countries might give us some feedback on this issue.

Mario De Bono

Feb 24th 2010, 09:32

Soe despite all te discusions we have had on the issue, and how badly it wll have an effect on small businesses in Malta, which on average employ only 3 people, this will mean that the workforce of a particular business will e cut by one third for 20 weeks. This is unacceptable. What will now happen is obvious. Businesses will start getting rid of workers who get pregnant, or else enter into time contracts that will teminate employemnt as soon as someone is pregnant. As an owner of a small business, I will now have to seriously consider not employing women at all unless on definte contracts renewable yearly. I cant afford 20 weeks paid maternity leave plus a replacement for 20 weeks. It costs an average of 12,000 euros per business in Malta already when someone gets pregnant. Businesses should not be made to carry that burden. If the EU wants to pay for it, or Governmnet, Fine. It would be pertinent to note how the Maltese representative voted on this issue, because all business organisations she consulted were against it.

laurence schembri

Feb 24th 2010, 09:07

What a pity, past my best years.

C.ZARB

Feb 24th 2010, 09:02

"In a country which boasts among the highest number of paid vacation leave days in the world, the added costs of some family-friendly measures will have a more pronounced effect on productivity and competitiveness."

We also boast of having the lowest salaries in Western Europe. Not to forget that national holidays that fall on weekends are not paid anymore.

maria aquilina

Feb 24th 2010, 09:00

Many women go in sick leave for the last weeks of pregnancy,obviously producing a sick leave certificate.They stat their maternity leave after delivery. Is this right? I think that maternity leave is beig abused. It must be made compulsory that maternty leave starts in the late weeks of pregnancy and not start after delivery.